Finding it
by goldeneyedgirl12
Summary: Clarke has just been cleaned up at camp Jaha after her ordeal. Reunions bring surprising feelings to the forefront of our heroine's mind. Meanwhile, the leaders of the 100 do everything in their power to rescue those of their friends who are still in Mount Weather. Whether they want to be saved or not.
1. Chapter 1

As I stepped out of my mother's tent I saw Raven sitting there waiting for me. She looked ok, but her leg was obviously wrong. After talking with her a second I heard a shout from the gates. Once chocolate brown mop of hair was helping a girl into the camp. Bellamy. Without hesitation I ran to him and threw my arms around him, squeezing him tightly. "Bellamy." He was obviously jarred by my attack but his arms quickly wrapped around me and squeezed. "Princess." His words were an exhale of my name. I pulled away and looked at him for a second when I heard Octavia say, "Never thought I would live to see the day."

She grinned at Clarke. "Octavia!" Throwing her arms around the girl helped her catch her balance after reacting so strongly to Bellamy. "I'm so glad you're ok, Clarke." "I'm so glad to see you, O." We separated and looked to Bellamy. "Where's Finn?" By this time Raven had caught up to the reunion and was obviously listening for his whereabouts. "Out looking for you." He looked away when he said it and Clarke's heart fell to her feet. " He's out there all alone?" "Ah, no. He's actually with Murphy." "Like psycho, going to kill a little kid Murphy? Threaten all of us and try to hang you Murphy?" " Yep. He helped me save that girl over there. He seemed… different. And I needed to get the wounded back to camp and make sure O was ok." He looked at me warily and I realized that he expected me to explode over his choice to separate. "You made the right choice. Lets get you checked out. Your hands are a mess. And what happened to your face?" His eyes shone with relief, "You should talk, Princess. You look like you fell down a mountain." His hand started to reach up toward my face but suddenly dropped to his side. The color in his cheeks deepened slightly. I grabbed his hand. "Come with me. My mom has some supplies in her tent. I can fix you up. Octavia, are you ok? Is there anything that you need looked at? Do you want to come with and make sure your brother doesn't provoke me into murder?" I grinned at the girl.

She stared at her brother with an exceptionally odd expression on her face. "No, thanks Clarke, I'll just… check on the girls. Take care of him." "Of course." With that Octavia and Raven slowly made their way to the med tent. I, still holding onto Bellamy's hand began to drag him after me in the other direction. "You have to tell me everything, Clarke. You look like you've been beaten." I glanced behind me. "Is it cliché to say you should see the other guy? Cause you should. I kicked her ass." As soon as the words were out of my mouth I stumbled, horrified that I had forgotten about Anya's death in the excitement of seeing Bellamy. He caught me and wrapped his arm around my waist. "She's dead. Anya. We escaped together and she tried to take me to her village to get back in their good graces after the drop ship killed her battalion. We… fought. She underestimated me. I had her convinced, I think, that if we all banded together that we might stand a chance against the Mountain Men, but then the sentries shot her. And me." We entered the tent and I broke down. Everything I had held in, every horror I had seen in Mount Weather, every denial by the others there about what was going on, every Reaper that had attacked, it all came crashing down on me. I began to sob, unable to hold it in any longer. "I just c-c-can't. It was s-s-so horrible. W-what they were doing is monstrous." Bellamy gathered me to his chest and rubbed my back while I soaked the front of his shirt. Eventually, he led me to the pallet and laid us down, still cradling me to his heart. He continued until I calmed down and was drifting into an exhausting sleep. "You don't always have to be strong in private Clarke. That's why I'm here and they will never touch you again. I promise." With the sweet vow of protection, I continued to drift and felt a kiss on my forehead. I fell into slumber with a small smile. Bellamy Blake was there for me.


	2. Chapter 2

When I surfaced after my tear induced nap, I woke, face to face with Bellamy. He looked exhausted in sleep but the usual frown and deep responsibility that constantly lurked in the back of his eyes was gone. He looked relaxed and younger somehow in slumber. I brushed a lock of hair away from his eyes and looked a little longer. He sighed and I snapped my eyes shut, lest I be caught creeping on him while he was asleep. "Smooth, Princess." I sighed and opened my eyes keeping my eyes averted from the inevitable smirk on his handsome face. I could feel the fire in my cheeks and I finally sighed and looked him in the eye. Instead of what I was expecting, there was a gentle teasing gleam in his eyes. "I didn't say I minded, Clarke. Feel free to drool over me." I rolled my eyes and snuggled in closer, laughing softly and trailing my fingers down his chest. "What time is it? How long was I…" I trailed off in horror. I had snuggled back into his chest and touched his chest, while _awake_. I jumped up untangling myself and throwing myself into the far side of the tent. His eyes were wide in surprise and confusion. "Thanks for helping me out. I really should check on everyone. Bye!" And as awkwardly as anything that had ever happened on this Godforsaken planet, I stumbled out of the tent and took off to the med bay where I would hopefully regain some semblance of control and composure.

When I got there I found Raven and Octavia talking about Octavia's ordeal after the battle. I listened in horror as she told us about Lincoln and her fight to get him back. I felt awful for her and for Lincoln. They had seemed so connected, really in love. She was dry-eyed and I realized how much the young naïve girl who had been dropped from the sky had changed and felt the loss of her youth acutely. She had come so far and was now a strong, smart woman. Raven changed the subject and we began discussing the condescending attitudes of the adults that had come down from the ark. While complaining about my mother and that asshole Kane, I saw Bellamy coming toward the tent talking to someone to his left. I hit the dirt and army crawled behind the curtain used for surgical procedures. "Clarke, what…?" Raven quit talking when she heard Octavia laughing loudly. "Hey O, how are you feeling?"

"Bell, I'm fine. Nothing happened to me. So, what are you doing here? Looking for something?" Her voice still held her laughter. "Ok, well, have you seen Clarke? I wanted to make sure she was ok." Raven piped up, "Didn't she take you somewhere to check you out? I mean check your _wounds_ out?" Bellamy was quiet for a moment and I was so tempted to peek out and see what was going on. "Forget it. I'll just catch her later." His footsteps receded and I did peek out. "The coast is clear, wuss." I threw a glare in the direction of Raven's voice and stood up with as much dignity as I could muster, which under the circumstances was not a whole lot. I brushed my clothes off and tried to avoid the laughing girls. "So, that was weird. Is there some reason you're avoiding my brother, Clarke? Did something, I don't know, _happen_ earlier while you were looking him over?" "But Octavia, Clarke and Bellamy can't stand each other. What are the odds that something _did_ happen?" Raven's 'innocent' voice and comment caused Octavia to start laughing again. I knew at this point that my face was fire engine red. "Nothing happened. I kind of fell apart and he… comforted me. And I cried all over him. And then fell asleep. And then maybe creepily stared at him and groped him and ran away." I felt even sillier than I had that morning dealing with Bellamy himself. My explanation did nothing to quell their laughter. "What did he do when you- what was it-groped him?" "I just kind of left. I don't have time for this silliness, we need to figure out what we're going to do about Jasper, Monty and the others. We have to get them out of there." That sobered Octavia and Raven and we all sat in silence for a few minutes. I finally put into words an idea that had been circulating in my head since I left Mount Weather. "I think the way in is through their cooperation with the Reapers. I'm not sure how to do it, but I think that will be the only way." "So you want us to what? Pierce our faces and start eating human flesh?" Octavia's voice sounded close to tears at the hopelessness of our situation. "No, think about it Octavia, Clarke's right! Maybe we could figure out a way to disguise ourselves and get into those tunnels." "It's crazy, I know, but there is literally no other way in there. Even if I could find the hatch I tried to get out of, there's no way they're just able to be opened from the outside. Or that they're not monitored. The tunnels have to be monitored too but if we're looking like Reapers, they shouldn't even notice." The probability of our plan concept working was slim to none, but it was time for everyone to come home and figure out our future. I had a feeling that the Mountain Men were just one obstacle our group had to survive. Those that came down with the ark were definitely staking territory and I for one was not pleased at being pushed aside to make room for those who had no idea what they were dealing with. Bellamy and I had gotten the 100 this far, it was time to get our people back and show the others how strong we had become. Strong _together_.


	3. Chapter 3

Raven, Octavia, Bellamy, Monroe and I met in the tent that they had assigned me, Octavia and Raven to discuss how to rescue our friends. Octavia was leading the discussion while I occasionally answered the questions that Bellamy and Monroe would throw in. As juvenile as it was I had yet to make eye contact with Bellamy and my determination was strong to keep that going.

"So Clarke, you need to tell us exactly what happened at Mount Weather." His voice broke into my concentration and I forced myself to stare at a spot on his forehead.

"I've told you. I've told you all twice."

"We need to know specifics. Can you recreate that map you were working on? Tell us about the tunnels. I agree that this is our only way but we need to be prepared or we'll get eaten alive." Raven snorted at his choice of words and he rolled his eyes.

"Really? You're the one who said eaten alive while talking about cannibals." Her eyes danced and it was the first time since I had returned that she seemed like the old Raven. I was glad. I pushed forward through the snorts and giggles.

"Ok. So what do you want to know?" As the others quizzed me about everything and I agreed that I could try to replicate the map I had been working on while held there, a flicker of hope sprouted in my chest. Maybe working all together we could do this.

"Ok, I think that's probably a good start but I still don't really understand the tunnel things. So you were in the lab with the grounders and they shove the dead ones, or almost dead ones, down a chute? You landed where exactly?" Monroe was kind of surprising me with her enthusiasm for this plan.

"The chute leads to a mining car in the tunnels. And then the Reapers take it away and…" I trailed off. There was no need to finish. Octavia made a horrified noise at my statement.

"Clarke, when you and Anya escaped down the chute, you were the only ones in the cart right? You didn't have to land on…" It was as if none of us could finish a thought. I looked down. I hadn't wanted everyone to know every horror that Anya and I had shared.

My silence gave me away and Octavia sighed and Bellamy made a noise in the back of his throat. He shifted as though he was going to stand up but settled back down, obviously thinking better of it. I cleared my throat.

"After the Reapers pushed us down the tunnel to their 'dining room', we jumped out and made a run for it. That's when the Mountain men caught up with us. We ended up jumping down this waterfall thing. Well, not a waterfall. I think it was part of a dam and their water system. They still got out faster than we did and chased us forever. We barely lost them. They have to have a kickass monitoring system. You would have thought the Haz-Mat suits would have slowed them down but no." I finally looked up and saw the pity mixed with fear in their eyes. Raven cleared her throat,

"I vote we let it go for a couple of hours and then pick it back up then. Maybe we'll have some starting points by then."

"Agreed!" This came from Octavia "Let's grab some food and regroup." They stood up and wandered out followed by Monroe, the three girls mumbling together as they walked toward the mess tent. I stood up and started to walk out when Bellamy gently grabbed my arm. I turned to face him.

"Clarke, I'm so sorry for what you went through. You're… you're the strongest person I know." His voice was deep, gravelly and gentle. I finally raised my eyes to his and was shocked by the strong emotion I couldn't put a name to in his eyes.

"I'm always here for you. You know that, right?"

"Thanks, Bellamy. And about this morning, I'm sorry. I just cracked and I lost it and you were the one that held me together. So, thanks, and I'm sorry." His eyes changed and something wicked lurked in them.

"Don't be sorry, Princess. I'm not." With a smirk he turned on his heel and walked out of the tent while I desperately tried to drag my jaw off the floor.

While I surrendered to my teenage girl angst about what Bellamy meant by that, I walked toward the mess to meet with my friends. Just as I was about to go in, I heard someone calling my name. Not someone, my mother. I turned and stared at her. Yeah, she had cleaned me up, cried over my wounds and cared for me but nothing could change the way I felt about her. I felt betrayed and I knew that wouldn't go away quickly. But life was different down here, grudges had no place in this new world. There was no time and I honestly didn't have the energy to deal with hating her all the time.

"Mom. What's up?"

"I was just hoping we could talk for a second. I know you hate me, honey. I know I deserve that, but you have to know that I did what I thought was best for everyone- including you. Creating a panic would have done way more harm than good at that point and I thought the Chancellor could make him see what was right. I made a mistake though. I was thinking of Jaha as our friend, not as our leader and so, yes, I did kill your father. But I never thought it would come to that and I never would have done it had I known. I also fought to keep you out of prison but they were so worried about it spreading they overruled me. I'm so sorry, Clarke." I stared at her for a full minute. This was the woman who had raised me. The woman who had taught me that human life was precious and it was everyone's job to preserve it and put others first. She wasn't a bad person, she wouldn't have had my dad killed, but she had still played a part and I couldn't just absolve her of that.

I finally sighed, "I don't hate you. But I can't trust you and I don't think that will change for a while. Things are different around here, you guys haven't got a clue as to what to expect and you're treating us like naughty children. If you want to start earning back my trust tell Kane and the others to pull their heads out of their asses and let us fix things. We need our people back and we know that you guys can't do anything." With this I turned on my heel and walked away from her, with my head held high and a weight off my shoulders. It was time for us to take back control.


	4. Chapter 4

**I wanted to let you guys know how much I appreciate the reviews and encouragement! It's so great to see people interested! Thank you!**

After I talked to my mom, I decided I wasn't really feeling the social requirements of the mess. So I grabbed the first thing I saw and wandered toward the edge of camp, the edge that faced Mount Weather. As I chewed the nuts I had grabbed I thought back to what Bellamy had said. He wasn't sorry? What does that even mean? Was he just flirting with me because I had revealed a weakness to him? He obviously knew I was attracted to him now and that was the most mortifying thing that had happened to me thus far on this planet. I knew who Bellamy was. He was a cocky, sarcastic womanizing guy and he had to be screwing with me. I know him, I drive him crazy. Or maybe… I just always saw what I wanted to see. When I really thought about it, I realized how much he had done for me, how much leniency he had shown me and how far he had gone to protect me. Yes, he was kind of a man-whore but that didn't mean he was a bad person. I knew deep down he was. No one else would have risked everything to join and protect his baby sister on what was a clear death sentence. I had been awful to him ever since the beginning, demanding he do what I thought was right and letting him clean up my mess when it didn't work out. He was obviously teasing me, but based on how I had treated him the least I could do was treat him like a friend and maybe show him that I trusted him. I needed to show him I knew he wasn't what he appeared. After thinking everything through I felt much better on the Bellamy situation, which I now realized had been all in my head. I could really extend and olive branch to him and make sure we were the best team we could be to get our people back. I sat for a little while longer thinking about what we could do to get through those tunnels. How could we sneak into the tunnels while they were infested with Reapers and covered with cameras and whatever else those psychos had in there. Well, first things first we needed to monitor the tunnels to see if there were any patterns or noticeable intervals we could use to get in. How could we get close enough to monitor without giving ourselves away? I stared out at the forest, watching while a bird landed in the tree closest to me, and disappeared from view. _Disappeared from view_. I shot to my feet, thinking fast. The grounders used sneak attacks from the treetops, they were afraid of the Mountain men and the Reapers so it made sense that they would have found away not to be seen. Something that they knew would keep them safe. I started jogging back to our tent to see Bellamy and Octavia talking outside.

"I know our first step. I know how to start rescuing our people."

After we were all assembled inside, I explained my plan.

"We go in twos and make sure to stay in the tops of trees and make our way to the tunnel entrance. We'll have to station ourselves around the mountain and try to find where the Reapers enter and exit and then monitor when they come and go, how they walk, get closer looks at them so we can emulate them better. Once we've done that we'll ambush a couple as far away from the mountain as we can and take their horrible clothes and whatever else we can use to blend in." I stared around and watched as the idea sank into the minds of everyone else. Raven and Octavia were nodding and Monroe let out a, "yeah, it'll take a while but it sounds like the safest way." We all looked at Bellamy and knew that if he didn't agree we would find another way. He looked into my eyes and nodded.

"Great idea, Princess. We'll have to take it slow but you didn't think the others were in any immediate danger and based on what you've told us I have to agree. They will turn on them, but if we go in with no preparation it'll be a blood bath. Ok, O, Clarke and I will rotate on watch as you two heal. Maybe start working on that creepy ass jewelry they wear all over their face. It might help hide us long enough to get inside. If there's a way to fake it I would really appreciate it." He grinned at the end and his relief at finally having a plan and working toward something was palpable and it was lightening him up. Raven piped up at this point, "Shouldn't be a problem. Simple magnetism will make sure you don't have to poke holes in that pretty face."

"Thanks Raven."

"I was talking to Ocatvia and Clarke." We all giggle and the chagrined look on his face and it felt good to laugh, to tease one another and just be together. It felt a little like it had before that fateful day of the grounder attack.

"So we start tomorrow? How are we going to get out and in? Clarke's mom seems like she might notice if her daughter keeps disappearing." Octavia had a point.

"We'll just have to cover for them, have contingency plans if too many questions start being asked. We also need to get you guys a couple guns. I don't think that should be a problem. As far as I can tell they haven't been taking inventory in all the craziness. We should grab four and as much ammo as we can before they do notice what comes and goes. I'll work on that. I have a lot of access to stuff around here." Raven seemed to relish the opportunity to do something for the plan.

"Great, we probably shouldn't be huddled alone like this often though. People are bound to notice."

"Well, you should probably go get checked out by your mom, Clarke. It looks like some of your stitches pulled and are starting to bleed." At Octavia's words, I reached up to my hairline and touched my face gently. My fingers came away covered in red. As I pulled my hand away, Bellamy was there, grabbing my wrist and staring at my scarlet fingers. He looked up and looked upset. He yanked me up to my feet and released my wrist to grab my hand.

"Jesus Princess. You need to take better care of yourself. You're no good to anyone if you bleed to death." With that charming sentiment he yanked me out of the tent and started marching me toward the med tent. I smiled up at him and watched as he stumbled. I snorted at his reaction. He was so unused to me being open to his help. Or my ripped up face gushing blood was unsettling. It really could go either way. He pulled me closer and sped up.

"Doc! Clarke pulled some stitches." He deposited me on the table before the surprised eyes of my mother.

"Are you ok, honey? What happened?" She got up closer and Bellamy took a step back.

"Nothing. I was just talking to my friends and started bleeding."

"Well then, its just because of the fragile are of the wound. We use our foreheads a lot and they're just going to be a little easier to bother. Be careful and come to me whenever you need to. They're not torn just a little tender." She leaned forward and kissed my forehead causing my back to stiffen. I saw Bellamy come closer out of the corner of my eye. When my mom pulled back I gave her a tight smile.

"Thanks, mom. I appreciate it." With that I hopped off the table and walked out of the tent with Bellamy close behind. I told her I didn't hate her and that was true but I had also told her I wasn't ready to go back to how things were. I took a deep breath and felt a strong hand on my lower back. For the second time that day I pulled my shoulders back and held my head high. I had a sneaking suspicion that the reason I had been able to confront my mother and stay strong for the sake of our people, was standing right behind me.


	5. Chapter 5

After leaving the med tent with Bellamy, I began walking toward my tent to rest for a little while before dinner. As much as I liked to pretend that I was a constant source of energy all of my injuries really sapped my energy. I was sore, had a headache and the pain made me vaguely nauseated. After the emotional stress of dealing with my mother for what seemed like _all day_, I was ready to close my eyes and rest. My head began pounding and I noticed that I was sweating through my clothes though there was a definite chill in the air. I knew what this was, my body was reacting to the trauma it had sustained. Suddenly my stomach began to cramp and I knew I was about to lose it. Publically. Clamping my hand over my mouth, I took off for the latrines that had been dug on the edge of camp but I wasn't going to make it. Halfway there I hit the dirt on my knees and vomited. Well, I hadn't eaten much today so it was mostly dry heaves but they felt absolutely wretched. When I calmed down and got my body under control, I realized that there was no hair hanging in my face and a large, gentle hand rubbing my back. There was no question who it was and that I had now surpassed my humiliation of him helping me this morning.

"Clarke, what can I do? Water. You need water. Hang on one second. Octavia! Octavia! Grab some water. Shut up and do it now!" I could hear her muttering until she must have seen me on the ground.

"God, Bell. What did you do to her?" Hearing his angry huff I laughed slightly and he must have thought I was ill again.

"O, I am not screwing around. Water, now." His warm hand continued to caress my back and I felt the nausea begin to retreat. Kneeling on the ground, humiliated beyond belief, I felt the sickness be replaced with a pounding headache. I moaned pitifully.

"Bed. Help me to bed. Please." He helped me to stand up though he had to take most of my weight, my legs felt like water.

"No, Princess, I think you need to go back to see the doc. I'll take you right now." I pushed him away and I moved myself rather than him by accident.

"No, its just stress on my body. I want my bed. Please, Bellamy take me to bed." My voice sounded weak to my ears.

"Well, well, well, do my ears deceive me or did I just hear dear old Clarke proposition Bellamy? Is that why she looks like she's dying?" Raven's voice was absolutely dripping with amusement.

"Here's the water Clarke! What can I do to help?" Octavia popped up from behind me holding a cup of water. I grabbed it gratefully and started to lift it to my lips but I was shaking so badly I could barely hold onto it. Bellamy leaned forward and cupped his hand around mine, helping to guide the cup to my lips. The water felt like heaven and I sucked the cup dry. I closed my eyes and sighed in relief, swaying as I did so. Bellamy's grip on my waist tightened. Suddenly the ground disappeared and I felt a warm chest under my cheek.

"Up we go Princess. Let's get you comfortable." His chest vibrated while he spoke and I sighed in relief as he walked on. A minute later he set me down on a soft surface and I curled into myself cringing as the headache worsened. A few minutes later an arm slid underneath my shoulders and lifted me into a sitting position. I grumbled and opened my eyes. Bellamy sat next to me holding me up and lifting another cup of water to my lips.

When I was finished drinking he told me to rinse my mouth out and then helped me lay back down. I sighed in relief, the water definitely helped and a cleaner mouth made me feel a tidge more human.

"Thank you Bellamy, you don't have to deal with all of this. I'm really ok now." I glanced behind him, expecting to see Raven and Octavia's makeshift beds but instead I saw the wall of a tent. I craned my head the other direction and winced at the pain that shot through my temple. There were two other bunks but in a different position than in my tent.

"Where am I?"

"I thought maybe you'd be more comfortable in my tent. Murphy and Finn aren't here right now, so you can have some peace and quiet and I can make sure you're okay." His eyes searched my face, probably looking for some sign of my next stream of puke. He was a brave man to put me in his bed. And it was his bed, I could smell it now. It was clean, woodsy and _Bellamy_. I relaxed onto the makeshift pillow and tried to look as un-nauseated as humanly possible.

"Thanks, are you sure? My body could be in trauma mode for hours, maybe even into tomorrow."

"Yes. I want you here." I attempted to smile at him but I knew it fell flat because of the amusement dancing in his eyes.

"Thank you. I really appreciate this. I don't want to go deal with my mother." I snuggled back into the softness and felt myself begin to drift off.

"Anytime, Princess, anytime." He whispered his hand over my brow and I felt his whole body shift with a big sigh as I fell into an exhausted sleep.

I rose to consciousness before I opened my eyes what had to be hours later and reveled in the warmth and comfort I felt. I surveyed my body and realized that I did feel better but was still extremely sore and felt weak as a kitten. I opened my eyes and realized that part of the reason that I felt so warm and comfortable was the man wrapped around me. I was in Bellamy's arms with my head nestled into his chest, his arms around me and settled on my stomach. As I stared in shock at where I was the tent door flapped open and revealed Octavia who didn't look nearly as surprised as I knew I did, I wasn't exactly sure what was on my face but a grin split hers at the sight of me.

"How are you feeling?" Her voice was low and cheerful.

"I'm…good?" The question in my tone caused her grin to grow if at all possible.

"Yeah, I thought you might be feeling…good. Bellamy never left your side you know. I haven't seen him act like this since I got sick when I was twelve and he just didn't know what to do. Are you getting it now Clarke?" I felt a little defensive at the tone of her voice, as though I had hurt her brother.

"Octavia—" My reproach was cut off by Bellamy moaning and burying his face into my shoulder. I froze and the smirk on Octavia's face made me want to hit her. He shifted again and lifted his head to peer into my face. The relief in his eyes made me want to tear up but I was way too badass to do that…in front of people.

"Hey. How are you feeling? Can I get you anything?" His hand brushed my forehead and he let out another breath. "I think you're cooling down. Your temp got pretty high last night, Princess. You scared us."

"Yeah, _Princess_, you really did." Bell whipped his head around and stared at his sister.

"Hey, O."

"Morning brother mine. I'll leave you to check on Clarke. Raven has our weapons ready and says she can get the fence off for thirty seconds in an hour so we can start recon. Come find me when you're ready. Clarke, Raven and Monroe will be checking on you during our shift. I think you still need to rest and try to get back on your feet. Let them know if you need anything. Don't be stubborn." With that bossy mouthful she turned on her heel and left us alone. Bellamy slowly turned his head back to mine and detached himself to sit beside me.

"So. Are you going to freak out and ignore me now? I didn't mean to overstep but I was just worried and you were so determined to not see your mom, the _only_ other doctor in the camp." He stared straight forward clearly steeling himself for my hard retort. I stared at his clenched profile and I made a decision. Reaching over I threaded my fingers through his.

"Thanks for everything Bell. And no, I'm not going to ignore you. Things have changed Bellamy, I've changed and I've seen things. Do you know what I was thinking while trapped in Mount Weather? I wished that you were there with me because you make me feel safe and strong, and I like who I am with you. I know when I'm with you that I can do everything that needs to be done and I also know that I don't have to do it all. You're always there to carry us. To carry me." I released his hand and stood up shaking with the effort.

"Can you help me get cleaned up?" As I faced him, the shock in his face had the corner of my mouth quirking upwards. "Bellamy?" He shook his head as if to clear it of his deep thoughts. Standing up he wrapped his arm around my shoulders and grabbed a stack of clothes sitting on one of the empty beds and started helping me out of the tent. As he helped me across camp he continued to shoot side-glances at me and it couldn't have been clearer that he had no idea what to do now. I smiled to myself; it was about time that the great Bellamy Blake was the one knocked off balance.


	6. Chapter 6

Sorry for the wait and the briefness of the chapter, crazy Thanksgiving weekend! Just to clarify, in this timeline, Finn never attacked the village.

After Bellamy helped me clean up, we wandered to the mess tent to grab some breakfast. He was still being uncharacteristically quiet and I smiled to myself knowing that he simply had no idea what to do about me. I might have been embarrassed to know how much I had opened myself up to him if I didn't know that he felt something. I took pity on him and went to join Octavia and Raven. As soon as I sat down they turned to me with identical grins on their faces, eyes sly.

"Feeling better Clarke?" I rolled my eyes and grinned back.

"Yeah, I feel a lot better. Still weak but more settled."

"Based on how Bellamy freaked last night, he would probably be more than willing to just carry you around all day and help save your energy."

"Stop teasing her Raven, you'll freak her out and she'll bolt." My mouth dropped open in indignation. Then I shut it, that was actually more than fair, I was about to prove them all wrong.

"Not gonna bolt. I feel- different. Being in that place, I just see things differently. We need to just live." I shook my head to get rid of the darkness. I was now focusing solely on light.

"So, what is going on with you and my brother?" There was no more teasing on Octavia's face. "I've never seen him like this Clarke. Just be careful." Before I could answer a shout went up from the gate.

"Oh God, what now?" With that, Raven began to stand with Octavia helping her with her crutches and we all took off toward the noise. When we got there I stumbled seeing what was going on. Finn and Murphy were at the gates, filthy and bloodstained but _here_. I stood rooted to the spot. I hadn't realized until this second how guilty I had felt that they were both out there looking for me while I was safe here. The relief that I felt that Murphy and Finn were here and safe was staggering. Finn suddenly looked straight at me and started running. He crushed me to his chest and exhaled loudly.

"You're here. You're here. Are you ok? God, Clarke you're here." The relief I felt was quickly being replaced with discomfort at the love shining from Finn's eyes and coming from his voice. It was wrong. It felt… off. I loved Finn, I truly did but it wasn't what he wanted. I wasn't in love with him. I pulled back and looked at him.

"I'm so glad you're safe Finn!" I disengaged myself from his arms and walked up to Murphy too. I did gently put my arms around him and it was the most awkward embrace ever. But he didn't pull away. "You too Murphy. I'm glad you're ok." Despite the violence, despite the anger he had good in him and for that to flourish, he needed us. Pulling away from him I caught surprise in his eyes and smiled at him. After a moment he smiled back.

"Thanks, Clarke. No offense but you look pretty rough. Who kicked your ass?" I laughed at him and told him believe it or not, I had won that fight. Finn stood silently by and watched me laugh with Murphy, obviously expecting a different welcome. Raven and Octavia came over to stand with me and Ellis, one of the guards began to herd both guys toward the med tent.

"Well, you handled that well, I was pretty sure that would end way worse." This came from Raven who looked after Finn with no more heartbreak in her eyes and for that I was grateful. I nodded at her and understanding passed between us. A warm hand wrapped around my upper arm and I felt a rush of relief pass through me. Bellamy.

"Are you ok, Princess? What can I do?" I looked up into his beautiful brown eyes and said,

"I'm fine. I'm glad they're ok, now we have two more to help us get everyone else back." Still looking into his eyes I was not surprised to see a tiny sliver of relief in him. He knew for sure now that I was simply happy to have my friend, and whatever Murphy was, back and safe. I wasn't conflicted, there was no question about how I felt. I looked toward his sister who winked at me.

"Are you guys still going to do recon?"

"Yep! Maybe while we're gone you, Raven and Monroe can work on a schedule to rotate the watch. Maybe fill Finn and Murphy in too. We'll be back later." As Octavia and Raven discussed where O and Bellamy would come back to re-enter camp so we could get the fence turned off, Bellamy slid his hand down my arm and tangled his fingers with mine. I pulled him down so I could speak in his ear,

"Be safe. I'll be royally ticked if something happens to either one of you." His eyes lit up and a grin curled the left side of his mouth up.

"I'd expect nothing less from my princess." His breath on my ear along with his words made me shiver and I squeezed his hand and watched as he and Octavia walked away to gather their packs and weapons.

"You are in trouble. He's gone over you and you over him." Hearing the smile in Raven's voice I turned to smile back and nod in agreement about my being crazy about him when the smile froze on my face. Finn stood a few yards away, a stricken look on his face clearly having seen my interaction with Bellamy. I stared at him and he nodded once and turned and walked away. He faded from my mind as I replayed Bellamy's parting words. His princess huh? Who knew he had that sappiness in him? Raven was right. I was in _trouble_.

It was odd how much I was looking forward to that.


	7. Chapter 7

An hour later Raven had gathered Monroe, Murphy and Finn into our tent to fill in the guys and come up with a rotation to stake out the mountain. Raven and I sat on my pallet facing the others while they spread out on the remaining pallets and floor.

"So we're going to stalk a mountain until we figure out where the _cannibalistic_ Reaper dudes are coming out. Then walk through the tunnels where the _cannibals_ live and go into a monitored human testing center? Did I get it all?" The sarcasm in Murphy's tones wasn't lost on me, but I chose to ignore it.

"Yeah, that's about right." Monroe snorted

"Well, she didn't go into the part where we're going to attack some reapers and wear their clothes and some fake piercings to blend in. Then we're going into the cannibal infested tunnels and up to the place where they're bleeding grounders dry." I couldn't stop the grin from spreading across my face.

"Ok. I'm in. We need to get everyone out of that place, it's a miracle you did Clarke. I don't know how you survived." He stared at me longer than necessary and it honestly made me a little uncomfortable. I smiled at him briefly and then deliberately shifted my attention to Murphy beside him.

"What about you Murphy, are you in?" He looked hard at me for a few seconds and then shifted to Raven. I knew all about their interaction after we had all been taken. Raven had stuck up for him when the Ark leaders had found them.

"Yeah. I guess I'm in. Just tell me what to do." I smiled at him. He cracked a smile back and it changed his whole face. I'd seen him smirk before but never give a genuine smile.

"Great! Well we just need to figure out a rotation schedule. We were thinking going out in twos, and rotating so no one gets too suspicious. The others will have to figure out ways to cover for each other. Bellamy and Octavia are out now so two new need to go tomorrow. I can go." I finished by looking around at my friends surrounding me.

"Don't you think you should give it a couple more days Clarke? You collapsed yesterday. You need to heal. You two can take it right?" Raven looked at Finn and Murphy for confirmation. They nodded back at her.

"What happened to Clarke? Are you okay?" Finn looked at me and Raven both.

"My body is just healing from the beating Anya gave me. I'm fine. I don't mind going."

She shook her head at me and I rolled my eyes. As she and Monroe explained our plan to grab weapons and how to get through the electric fence, I started to droop. As much as I complained about being fine I was really exhausted to be honest.

"Ok so O and Bellamy today, Finn and Murphy tomorrow and then Clarke and Bellamy the day after then O and Finn and by then Monroe thinks she should be up and running so she'll take the next day with Murphy. We can just rotate from there." Monroe must have noticed my exhaustion since she stood up with a little bit of difficulty because of her leg and said, "Perfect. Let's get out of here so Clarke can get some rest." The others stood up and began to walk out. Finn looked like he wanted to stay but it was Murphy who nudged him toward the door and winked at me. Smiling sleepily in return I sank into my bed watching Monroe go and Raven stand up. Leaning down she said softly,

"You can thank me for your rotation partner later, _Princess_." Laughing at herself, presumably due to her hilarious reference to my nickname she started to walk to the door as well.

"Thanks Raven." I then rolled over and promptly shut my eyes, hoping that some of my strength would come back soon. I felt as weak as a kitten and I was pretty over it.

Something swept across my face and I turned my face into the touch. Opening my eyes I saw Bellamy sitting on the edge of my pallet. I smiled at him as I stretched my arms above me. "You're home."

"Yep and O and I are in one piece as per your orders. We didn't have any luck today though. Didn't see a single Reaper or Mountain Man. Raven said you weren't feeling well. Can I get you anything?" The concern in his eyes went straight to my heart.

"Thanks but I'm fine. I just got a little tired. I hope I feel better tomorrow, I'm already sick of being in bed." He smiled wickedly down at me.

"There are lots of things to do in bed to entertain Clarke. Do you need a demonstration?" Leaning down he gently touched his lips to mine and the world exploded. I sat up and roped my arms around his neck as his hands ran over my back and pulled me closer. It could have been hours, it could have bee seconds but I couldn't have told you which. Slowly, we parted and Bellamy touched his forehead to mine, smiling into my eyes. The smile on his face was on the goofy side but I couldn't talk because I was pretty sure my face matched his. I started to laugh and after a second he joined me running his hands down my arms to link with my hands.

"Sorry to interrupt the adorableness of this but we wanted to see if you guys wanted to grab dinner in the mess." Flushing scarlet I closed my eyes and buried my face in Bellamy's neck. He laughed again and said, "Yeah, we'll be right out." As the tent flap swished closed he leaned down and placed a kiss on my neck. "Come on Princess, if we don't go now, we'll never hear the end of it. We can definitely pick this up again later." We stood up and walked to the tent entrance our hands still entwined. We joined Octavia and Raven outside and they shockingly didn't say anything to make my embarrassment any worse. We just talked and laughed at a story Octavia told us about her and Bellamy's watch.

"So we're belly up on these branches in trees opposite each other and I look over to see Bellamy in a legitimate battle with a bird. He's flapping around and trying to slap it away and I thought for sure he was going to fall out of the damn tree but he managed to hold on and by that point I was crying it was so funny." Bellamy looked down and I swear I saw a light flush on his cheeks. "Well I'd like to see any of you stay seated while a bird tried to peck your brain out." After a second he broke into laughter too. This was wonderful. He had really loosened up and relaxed and I knew why. He was no longer the one who had to carry the weight of 100 lives on his shoulders. There were people here now with training and while he would never be a passive citizen I could see the relief if I looked close enough. This must have been how Bellamy was before Octavia was found and jailed and their mom floated. Now he was just Bellamy, handsome, smart, arrogant and unwaveringly brave. Happy I looked over and smiled at him. He smiled back before it dropped straight off of his face. Wondering what had caused the drastic change I looked behind me and saw Finn and Murphy coming to join us. Finn chose the seat next to me while Murphy sat across from him next to Monroe.

"Hey guys, what's so funny?" Finns voice seemed unnaturally chipper and we all stared at one another for a second before Octavia answered in a kind voice.

"I was just telling everyone how Bellamy got into a fight with a bird today and barely won." We all cracked another smile to help ease the tension. Well, all of us besides Bellamy and Finn. They stared at each other for a few testosterone filled seconds before I asked Raven how her leg was. She grasped at the chance to change the subject.

"It's actually doing okay. The brace Wick made for me makes it tons easier to get around. Your mom thinks if I keep it strong there is a slight chance I'll regain the use of it." I didn't have to feign happiness. "That's great Raven!" Monroe and Murphy also gave their congratulations while O patted her on the back and Finn and Bellamy finally broke their hostile gazes. Finally finished with dinner I pushed away the remnants of food and Octavia pounced like she was starved.

"Well I'm off, night guys." I walked over to the bitchy blonde guard sat and asked if she knew where my mother was. After saying "Med bay" in a clipped tone I took off to check in and say goodnight. I needed to stay close so she wouldn't seek me out while our operation was happening. Walking in I saw her sorting supplies, she looked up as I walked in.

"Clarke, honey is everything ok. Are you sick?" She walked over and looked into my eyes and felt my forehead.

"I'm fine mom, I just wanted to let you know I'm okay and say goodnight."

Her eyes absolutely lit up and I bit my lip, feeling awkward and a little guilty.

"I'm glad you feel okay Clarke. Goodnight and let me know if you feel any worse."

"Thanks. See you in the morning." I walked out and made it two steps before a hand wrapped around mine. Looking to my left I saw the chiseled outline of Bellamy's profile.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just wanted to say night to my mom." He pulled me over to the edge of camp and faced me.

"So it wasn't cause of how I acted at dinner? Because I'm not sorry Clarke. Finn's acting like he has some claim on you and it pisses me off." At my raised eyebrow he said, "Not that I think I have a claim on you. We haven't talked about anything and it's really early but I just wanted to say that." I stared at him. "So you wanted to come over and tell me that you weren't sorry for how you acted and you'd do it again?"

"Yes." I snorted and wrapped my arms around his waist.

"Bell, there isn't a weird love triangle thing here. I liked Finn for a minute and he lied about a lot of stuff. It hurt and I'm over it. I have feelings for you in case that wasn't clear. And while I don't like the word claim, I have no problem with you letting people know that we're _something_." He looked down at me.

"Really? Something? Jesus Clarke." He grinned at me and I laughed with him until he reached out to tickle my sides. Gasping with laughter I wrapped myself around him and begged for mercy before shoving him to the ground and dancing away. I don't _do_ mercy begging. Laughing up at me he got up.

"Well Princess, that was a dirty trick. I can't wait to find other dirty tricks you know." Grinning at my open mouthed shock he bent down and pressed a light kiss to my lips.

"Come on, I'll walk you to your tent." We took off, talking about the rotation schedule and soon we were at the tent. Deciding to be brave, I rose to my toes and kissed Bellamy gently before settling back down.

"Night, Bellamy."

"Night Princess." Watching him walk towards his single tent I smiled and ducked into my own tent. Three grinning faces greeted me.

" I love you Clarke but if you hurt my brother I'll kill you. Just thought we'd get that out of the way."


	8. Chapter 8

**I know that the last few chapters have been very fluffy and the plot hasn't moved along very quickly. Unfortunately, this chapter is mostly fluff as well. However, the next will really get us into the action. So I hope you stick with it and feel the pace pick up in the next couple of chapters. Thanks!**

I looked at Octavia, openmouthed. I was kind of shocked, out of the two of us it was definitely me that was taking the biggest risk. Bellamy was used to a rotation of girls who really knew what they were doing. I, on the other hand, had no experience besides that one time with Finn. I was confident but had barely any experience with guys.

"O, I won't hurt him. Honestly" She smiled back at me.

"Clarke, I was kind of kidding. I have a good feeling about you guys. And you're a good person. You're both good people. Relax." Raven snorted from her pallet.

"Yeah Clarke, she was only kind of serious about the death threat. That'll relax her O." We all laughed and I settled onto my pallet and took my boots, pants and jacket off to get a little more comfortable. Modesty had taken a backseat to efficiency down on earth. All the girls had seen each other in various states of undress and we really didn't think about it anymore. As we were short on clothes, night was basically the only time we had a chance to get out of them. Snuggling into my blankets I sighed and rolled over to discuss things with the other girls.

"What do you think our odds are of getting into Mount Weather alive?" The others looked at me seriously.

"They're not great Clarke, but what else can we do? We have to save them." This came from Monroe and I felt relief that they supported our plan so firmly. I worried that they felt they were being led to slaughter. Raven piped up.

"Let's not talk about it. For tonight, let's just be four girlfriends hanging out. So Clarke, when are you going to take things with Bellamy to the next level? Are we thinking long term, marriage, kids? I mean we should all think about little blonde children with a bossy attitude." Octavia and Monroe laughed hysterically. I stuck up for Bell.

"Bellamy isn't bossy!"

"Well I wasn't just talking about Bellamy." This sent the two girls into fits of laughter and I cracked a smile with them. Okay. I might be a little bossy.

"Whatever. No one is thinking about kids you freaks. We just started… hanging out. Don't be weird. But, things are good. I think. He's amazing." I looked at the ceiling to avoid the smirks that were undoubtedly on the faces of the others.

"So, we all know he's a beautiful guy but is he a good kisser? Come on Clarke, let us live vicariously through you." Laughing at Monroe's question I looked over and saw Raven and Octavia exchange an awkward glance. Something seemed off.

"What's with you guys? Everything ok?" Octavia stared at Raven's profile, which had turned slightly gray.

"Raven… you should…" Raven cleared her throat and finally looked up and met my eyes.

"Clarke. After Finn and I broke up I was angry. So angry and I needed to forget and… I slept with Bellamy." I sucked in a horrified breath and stared at Raven. The guy I liked had slept with one of my best friends. I kept looking at her and thought of how beautiful she was. She was also super smart and helpful to everyone around her. I shook those thoughts off. I was just as smart, just in a different way. And I wasn't unattractive. The rational side of me felt a little better, but there was a teeny part that felt… Weird. Both guys I had liked on earth had been with Raven before I had. Exhaling I caught Raven's eye. She looked extremely apprehensive, as though preparing for me to lash out at her. She hadn't done anything wrong. At all. I wasn't mad, just weirded out. A little jealous and weirded out.

"Raven. Thanks for telling me. No big deal, right?" My voice sounded confident and I was extremely grateful for that because Raven's relief was palpable in the tent. I felt bad. She really hadn't done anything at all. I decided the best way to put her at ease was to act like nothing was different.

"So I feel weird because I feel like I've been making all the moves with him but I don't want to like, force myself on him. How do I back off without making him feel like I don't want him anymore?" Raven and Monroe screwed up their faces and thought about the question. Octavia on the other hand laughed out loud.

"Clarke, you don't need to do another thing. He'll be all over it. He takes care of things and wants to make you happy. I've never seen him act this way and I really think that he was just waiting for a clear signal from you that you were interested. Because he has been. Interested. For a while." My heart lightened and I figured we'd discussed my drama for long enough.

"So what about you guys? Anything new?" As the other three began gossiping about some hot young soldier that had come down, my thoughts drifted. As I thought about tomorrow my eyes drifted shut with the voices of my friends lulling me to sleep.

I jerked awake feeling someone covering my mouth. I began to thrash around hoping to wake someone else up but I wasn't making enough noise. Suddenly I felt my back leave the blankets that I had been lying on and I was in my attacker's arms, kicking and hitting anything I could reach. We exited the tent and I was carried a little ways away. Whoever had grabbed me lowered me to my feet and I stared up at Finn. His eyes were a little wild and I could tell from the smell emanating from him that he had found the last of Monty's moonshine that the last group had brought back from the dropship earlier in the day.

"Finn what in the hell do you think you're doing!? Are you crazy!? Why would you grab me like that?" He stared back at me with glassy eyes that looked extremely upset.

"Clarke. What can I do to make things right with you?"

"Well, first things first, maybe stop kidnapping me in the middle of the night in nothing but my underwear." He glanced down and I swore I saw a hint of blush across his cheeks.

"I'm sorry, I just had to talk to you away from _him_." From the venom in his voice he could only be talking about Bellamy.

"That doesn't make it ok… or less stalkerish. Finn there isn't anything you can do. We're fine. I promise, I'm not mad anymore. You were in a weird position and you handled things how you needed to. We're fine. I promise." He blinked and took another step closer, this put him right up in my face and I took a step back, only for the space I had created to be eaten up by him as he took another step.

"Finn, you're making me uncomfortable. I want to go back to bed and I think you need to get back to your tent, okay?"

"I love you. I'm _in_ love with you. I want to be with you, Bellamy doesn't deserve you, he's an ass and he doesn't care what anyone else thinks. Clarke, think about it, he won't just be with you, he's already been with everyone. You're it for me and I'll do anything you want to prove it to you." He stepped forward and pressed his lips to mine. I tried to shove him off and when he resisted I bit his lip. He jerked back, raising his hand to check his lip.

" You bit me! Jesus Clark, why would you do that?" He stared me in genuine confusion. I sighed, I wasn't up to dealing with drunk and creepy Finn tonight.

"Finn, go to your tent. I'm going to bed. If I ever see you in my tent again without permission, I'll tell the guard. Go to bed now." Looking at me with wounded eyes he turned and stumbled off into the dark towards the tent he shared with Murphy. I let out a deep breath and closed my eyes.

"Are you okay?" In shock, I jumped at least a foot in the air. Eyes flying open I stared at Bellamy and tried to slow my racing heart.

"What are you doing out here? How long have you been out here." He gestured a few feet to his right, toward what I now realized was his tent.

"Long enough to hear what Spacewalker spewed at you. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay, just weirded out. He grabbed me while I was sleeping and I had no clue who it was until I got out here. He was just drunk."

"I know, that's the only reason I didn't kill him for grabbing you while you slept. In your underwear. That and the fact that you were absolutely holding your own. Nice bite, Princess." I gave him a small smile.

"Thanks. For saying that and letting me handle it."

"No problem." I stared toward my tent and realized that I didn't want to go back there. Even as I thought it Bellamy wrapped an arm around my shoulders and began to steer me toward his tent.

"You should sleep with me tonight, just in case he wanders back into your tent." Nodding I ducked under the flap and collapsed on his pallet. Curling up on my side, I waited for him to follow suit. When he did he rolled close to my back and put his arm over my side. Reaching up I tangled my fingers with his. I quickly fell back to sleep despite the drama.

When I woke up, it was still dark and Bellamy was still wrapped around me. Gently, I disentangled myself from his arms and grabbed a shirt from next to the bed and shrugged it on. Since he was already wearing one I assumed someone had given him an extra when the Ark came down. Deciding between stealing his shirt and walking back to my tent in a tank and underwear I decided to steal. Obviously. I tiptoed out the tent and made my way back to mine. Opening the flap I walked to my own pallet and laid there dozing a bit until I heard the others starting to wake. I stirred as well, preparing to face the day. I threw my blankets off and stood and came face to face with Octavia and her raised eyebrows.

"Is that my brother's shirt? You definitely weren't wearing that last night."

"No, I wasn't. Something really weird happened last night. Finn grabbed me last night and dragged me outside and got really weird. Bellamy kind of heard it and after I made Finn leave and let me sleep in his tent in case Finn came back. Crazy right?" They all stared at me in shock.

"You're kidding me right? He came here in the middle of the night and _forced_ you outside? In the middle of the night. God, he's completely lost his shit. Jesus." Raven's disgust was evident. I shook my head to stop the conversation. Finn was just upset and confused, he'd get better.

"Okay so Finn and Murphy go today. Let's work on the gun and ammo situation. I can keep my mom busy but that beast of a guard will definitely be a problem." I screwed up my face and tried to think. How could we get that bitch away from us long enough to work on our secret stash? It was imperative that we get the guns now before things became even more organized.

"Well Princess, if you need someone distracted, there's no one more obnoxious and a pro at demanding attention than Octavia Blake." I spun around and saw Bellamy standing in the entrance to our tent. His usual smirk in place.

"Murphy and Finn are ready to go, Raven if you could freeze the fence for them, they'd probably appreciate it." She nodded and took off with Monroe and Octavia trailing behind her leaving Bellamy and I alone. He stepped closer and slowly bent down to press a soft kiss to my lips. When he pulled back he had a small smile on his face and I knew it matched the one that had crept onto mine. Reaching forward I wrapped my arms around his waist and settled my cheek on his chest. He tangled his hands in my hair and stroked it gently. All tension that had built into my shoulders because of the creepy Finn encounter last night, seeped out of my body.

"Thanks for everything last night Bell. It really made me feel better." I felt him kiss the top of my head.

"Anytime Princess, and I'm going to let the fact that you stole my shirt go but only because you make it look pretty good. But you should know that the one thing that I cant let go? It's you leaving my bed in the dark to creep back to yours. Not a fan of that, and I'm hoping from now on I can find some way to… entice you to stay." He had been kissing his way down my ear and on his final words he bit my lobe gently. I shivered and realized that I might be a little out of my league. Dammit.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hi guys, I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and is ready for the New Year . It's been a while and everything has changed on the show since I last updated. And as hard as it is to write things as they were **_**before**_**, I hope you guys can go with it and enjoy it without remembering what happened on the last episode. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it! Happy New Year!**

During the rest of the day, I wandered around making sure that my mom saw me once or twice during the day but not enough that she would notice me gone tomorrow. I mostly sat around in a shady area by the fence working on my sketch of the interior of Mount Weather, trying my hardest to remember as much as I could. Right before lunch, Bellamy came over and set some food next to me. Sitting on my right side he started on his own food.

"How's it going, Princess? I saw you dodging your mom so I thought it would be good if she thought you ate elsewhere occasionally. Raven told me that you and I are up tomorrow. Ready for some tree sitting?" He smirked over at me. Raising an eyebrow back at him I snarked, "I can't wait to see you fight off a bird." Grinning he nudged me in the side. We sat in silence for a few minutes and then saw Octavia, Raven and Monroe walking over. Sitting down with us we joked around and ate our lunch and everything felt… okay for the first time in a long time. We separated after lunch with Bellamy squeezing my knee and throwing me a wink as he sauntered away with the others following. I sketched for a while longer and once it started to get dark I went to watch for Finn and Murphy to let Raven know when to turn the fence off. After waiting for ten minutes, Octavia showed up with the same idea, talking and laughing and trying not to arouse any suspicion. Soon, I looked over and saw Murphy motioning to me. I nodded to Octavia and tried to casually wander to Raven's work station. I walked in and said hi and nodded to let her know that the others were back. She said in a low voice, "Twenty seconds. Go." Walking back, counting in my mind, I motioned to the boys when we hit twenty five. They snuck through after making sure that no one was loitering nearby. Almost as soon as they crossed the fence, Bellamy materialized by my side.

"Let's separate for a few minutes and then meet back in the girls tent." Bellamy's voice was terse and I felt him shift a bit closer to me. Murphy and Finn nodded and snuck to put their guns and supplies back in our hiding spot. Octavia walked off to grab some water and to get Raven and Monroe. Bellamy threaded his hand through mine and we began to walk back to my tent.

"Try to remember how drunk he was ok? For me?" I looked up and saw the amusement on his face as he looked back down on me.

"Clarke, I remember. I just want him to know that I know so maybe he'll think twice next time."

"Got it." Grinning up at him I pulled him the last few steps into my tent and we settled on my pallet waiting for the others. A few seconds later Monroe walked in with Octavia on her heels.

"Raven'll be here in a sec she was just finishing up with something." Even as Octavia finished Murphy and Finn came in and settled on the floor. Finn wouldn't meet my eyes and I could basically feel Bellamy's smug satisfaction. Rolling my eyes I waited for Raven to appear. A couple of seconds later the flap opened again and in walked our last member.

"Okay, so what did you guys find out?" Octavia sat on the edge of her pallet and looked curiously at Finn and Murphy.

"We found where the Reapers are going into the mountain. It's a couple miles South of here, we only saw six come out and go in the whole time we were watching. I really think we can do this!" Murphy's excitement was clear. After quizzing them about what the Reapers were wearing, what kind of head gear they had on, that kind of thing, we separated after planning to meet here tomorrow night when Bellamy and I returned. Standing up I thought about how much closer we were to rescuing our friends.

The next morning, I made sure to be seen by my mom right before Bell and I left camp. Waiting for Raven's signal we made a break for it as soon as possible. As soon as we cleared the fence I felt better than I had in a while. Not only were we finally doing something to help our friends, but I felt free. Obviously I loved the safety of the camp but it was a lot different than the one we had built when we had first come to earth. We had less of a say—if any- and that felt a bit suffocating to me. I can't even imagine how Bellamy felt about it. He had worked so hard to become a leader, earned it really, and now he was just treated like a criminal who was allowed to wander free. We stayed alert on our walk to the area that Finn and Murphy had told us about and looked for the subtle markers they had made to show us the way. After walking quite a ways, we found the tree that they told us to watch from and began to climb. Once I made it to the top I settled on an extremely thick branch and made room for Bellamy. When he made it to the top, much more gracefully than I had, damn him, he settled next to me. We kept watch for a while before breaking the comfortable silence.

"So Princess, has Spacewalker been bothering you?" I snorted and looked at him sideways.

"Like you wouldn't know. You haven't left me alone except at night." He grinned.

"Well, that could be less about Finn and more about you." I blushed which made his grin widen. After our whispered conversation we settled back into silence, keeping a close watch on our surroundings. After a couple of hours we saw three Reapers go into the mountain. About half an hour later they came back out and we had a much better view of their faces and fronts. Looking at them I realized that it was imperative that Raven figure out that magnetized metal for our faces to blend in. The entire rest of the day we didn't see any other Reapers enter or exit the mountain. When the sun began to go down we carefully climbed down the tree and carefully began to walk back to camp. When we came close to the tent we saw Monroe and Murphy waiting by the fence. Monroe began to walk to Raven's workshop and less than a minute later we were back inside Camp. Walking to our stockpile we hid our supplies and made our way to the mess to grab something to eat. We were joined by Raven, Octavia and Finn. Quietly we began to tell them about our day and based on everyone's faces and reactions, they felt the shift toward action as acutely as I did. We had some real knowledge now. We really could begin to plan. I slipped my hand into Bellamy's and saw a small smile appear on his face.

"I've been experimenting with some magnet jewelry and I think I can get enough done in about a week. I'm borrowing from the main stockpile so I don't think I can go much faster."

"Okay, so we watch for about a week and really try to pinpoint anything we can about the Reapers, and then as soon as the metal is ready, follow three ambush them, take their clothes and enter the tunnel. Totally doable right?" Even I knew I sounded idiotic. Bellamy squeezed my hand.

"There's not much else we can do. We can't leave them in there much longer, God knows what those psychos are doing to them." Monroe looked strong and sure of herself and the plan, and her conviction gave me comfort.

"We're doing everything we can to help them. This is a good plan for what we can do. We're all in." Surprisingly, this came from Murphy. Being included and treated like an equal really made difference with him. He was sincerely interested in helping our friends. I think he really had turned over a new leaf. I nodded to him in agreement.

"So, who's going tomorrow?" My question caused everyone to look around. Finn was the one to answer.

"I'm going to go with Octavia to give Monroe another day to heal." I nodded to him without making eye contact.

"Okay, well we better get out of here before people get suspicious." Standing up, Bellamy pulled me up with him and we said goodbye to everyone and walked toward his tent. It had started to drizzle and I entered it with relief. Sitting on his makeshift bed I made myself comfortable, wrapping myself in his blanket. Once I was situated I glanced up at him in time to see the grin on his face.

"Glad you feel comfortable enough to make yourself at home, Princess." I blushed but smiled back at him.

"Well, I like it in here." He chuckled and sat next to me. I opened the blanket and gently pushed him down so he was laying with me tucked on top of his chest. Reaching up he draped the blanket back over us and then rested his hand on my back. Feeling comfortable and warm, I realized how exhausted I was.

"You did good today Clarke. How are you feeling?" I cuddled deeper into his chest

"I feel okay. Just tired. You might need to carry me back to my tent." I shut my eyes and smiled sleepily into Bellamy's shirt. His chest rumbled as he laughed at me.

"Or you can just stay here with me tonight."

"mmmmkay. Thanks." He shifted into a sitting position, dragging me with him. I grumbled at him.

"Here, put this on." Reaching over he grabbed the Tshirt that I had stolen the day before. With my eyes half shut and feeling barely awake, I shrugged off my jacket and lifted my arms. Bellamy lifted my shirt over my head and then I felt his tshirt slide over my head. Laying back down he settled me back onto his chest and kissed the top of my head.

"Good night, Princess." With his deep voice in my ears, I fell the rest of the way into sleep feeling safe and warm.


End file.
